Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

This recipe has been used by my family for as long as I can remember.  Unfortunately, it's not gluten-free.  But it is vegan; and more than that, it's tons and tons of fun to make.  The batter itself is my favourite part, because it makes use of the baking soda-vinegar foaming reaction.  My mom, on the other hand, prefers the fun of rolling out the dough and cutting out the cookie shapes.  (We make a pretty awesome baking team!  She is also the cake-decorator in the family to my cake-baker).

The dough in this recipe needs to chill for a minimum of several hours before it can be rolled.  At first, this may seem like an inconvenience; but in my opinion it's really a blessing in disguise, because the dough can stay chilled for extended periods of time.  (We've left the dough in the fridge for up to a week with no ill effects.)  Our general strategy is to make huge recipe in one go, and then portion into smaller batches of dough we can roll, bake and eat as we need it and/or as we have time.  Once I left home, I would generally do my favourite part (the mixing), stick the dough in the fridge, and then bring it home with me when I went back for the holidays so my mom could have fun cutting out the cookies. 

The short baking time also makes these cookies ideal for classroom (or Sunday school) use - bring in the dough, pre-made and chilled, and let the kids have fun rolling, cutting, sprinkling, baking, and eating!